Face off
We touch our faces often. Maybe 3 to 23 times an hour often! But if our hands haven’t just been washed and we’ve touched surfaces contaminated by viruses surviving in Read More …
Author: Ian M Mackay, PhD (EIC)
Ya es tiempo pasado para decirle al público: ‘Probablemente será una pandemia, y todos deberíamos prepararnos ahora’
Por Jody Lanard y Peter M. Sandman al Español por Daniel Romero-AlvarezPublicado originalmente en Inglés por Ian M. Mackay en su blog personalA translated version of my earlier post, performed Read More …
Add some balance to the expert commentary
Look. If this triggers your innate biases or your need to call me out as a virtue signaler or tell me “now isn’t the time”, seriously save yourself the spittle Read More …
¿Piensas que pronto estarás en una pandemia?
Por Ian M Mackay, PhD y Katherine E Arden PhDKindly translated by Assistant Professor María Paz Bertoglia Arredondo El síndrome agudo respiratorio severo Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 [1]) se ha expandido Read More …
So you think you’re about to be in a pandemic?
by Ian M Mackay, PhD and Katherine E Arden PhD The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 [1]) has spread to over 30 countries and regions outside mainland China. Read More …
Past Time to Tell the Public: “It Will Probably Go Pandemic, and We Should All Prepare Now”
by Jody Lanard and Peter M. Sandman NOTE FROM IAN: The expert risk communication team of Lanard and Sandman has given me permission to post their very well-considered reply to Read More …
Not so novel: numbers: around COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2
A mammoth overview was just released by researchers from the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (their website is a bit slow right now so have patience).[1] It broke Read More …
Flight of the aerosol
Understanding what we mean when we discuss airborne virus infection risk. An article collaboratively written by (alphabetically).. Dr. Katherine ArdenA former postdoctoral researcher with interests in the detection, culture, characterization and epidemiology of respiratory viruses.Dr Graham Read More …
Wuhan remains the source, for now
Cases of the novel Wuhan coronavirus remain anchored in contact with the city of Wuhan in Hubei province. When that changes and we see human-to-human (h2h) spread occur outside of Read More …
Novel Wuhan coronavirus cases leap up
Confirmed cases of the novel Wuhan coronavirus have gone from 62 detected in Wuhan (and 3 exports that we knew of then) to over 200 after a jump of 136 Read More …
China +2
Two countries, in addition to China, have now had visits from the novel Wuhan coronavirus, detected in travellers with respiratory symptoms. Thailand and Japan have each reported a case and Read More …
Some human-to-human transmission isn't surprising in Wuhan
A couple of people have asked me lately if they should be worried about the novel Wuhan coronavirus. Which got me to thinking. Much of what we sciencey types chat Read More …
Viral pneumonia cluster in Wuhan, central China: 44 cases and counting
Welcome to 2020 in which we already have reports of our first cluster of viral-pneumonia-of-unknown-cause cases, generating worldwide media and evoking memories of the sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus Read More …
There are plenty of placebo-controlled vaccine trials
The agglomeration of anti-vaxxers love to plague us with their pro-disease perfidy. They really enjoy wheeling out the lie that vaccines have never been tested with a placebo. Turns out, Read More …
Measles in Samoa – a couple of referenced facts
Measles has killed 81 people in Samoa so far, mostly children. Meanwhile, like a pack of hyenas laughing maniacally off stage, the anti-vaccination cult is drooling over the harm and Read More …